Declarations of gifts and hospitality

Caroline Pidgeon: Although your register of gifts and hospitality has been retrospectively updated with 14 new entries it is worth noting that as recently as the 2nd Jul 2019 the last entry in your register for gifts and hospitality was dated the 28th November 2018. Why was there such a long time lapse in your entries and what steps are you taking to ensure that your register of gifts and hospitality is in future always up to date?

The Mayor: Apologies for the delay in answering your question. Declarations of my gifts and hospitality were not processed due to an administrative oversight, which I regret.This has been resolved and appropriate steps taken to prevent this issue recurring.

Does the language politicians use matter?

Joanne McCartney: Does the language politicians use matter, both in London and nationally?

The Mayor: As we saw with the horrendous Christchurch massacre and the murder of Jo Cox MP, deeply irresponsible behaviour and language used by public figures and politicians can and does have lethal consequences. When senior politicians use racist language with impunity, and are even rewarded with a promotion, it only encourages those who seek to spread hate.
At a time when there are those who seek to sow the seeds of hatred and division both in Britain and around the world, politicians must lead by example to bring communities together and to show that there is more that unites us, than which divide us.

Delivering Promises

Gareth Bacon: How are you ensuring you can deliver on your promises?

The Mayor: As Assembly Member Bacon will know from his experience as chair of the Budget and Performance Committee, Unit dashboards are provided to the committee to provide an overview of delivery against key Mayoral commitments.
My Mayoral strategies provide strategic direction over a 25-year time period. The strategies set ambitions for what we can do from City Hall and also set ambitions for what can be done working with Whitehall, with local authorities, with the NHS and with numerous other partners.
Mary Harpley as Chief Officer has done good work since she was appointed to improve the reporting process. There is also cross-team work in City Hall to look at Mayoral strategies and how these are progressing.The first progress reports on my strategies are due to publish soon and I will ensure that these are shared with Assembly members.

Disabled Londoners and Sport Unites

Jennette Arnold: Thank you for your answer to question 2019/17561 on Sport Unites. I am pleased to hear that you have 18 projects specifically engaging with disabled Londoners. What are these projects and how are you ensuring that target communities are able to access them?

The Mayor: As part of my community sport investment programme, Sport Unites, I fund a range of projects aiming to bring together communities, reduce social isolation, improve mental health, and tackle health inequalities. These are issues disproportionately affecting disabled Londoners, along with several other groups.
One of the major requirements for my grant schemes is strong evidence of consultation with service users, or with other organisations working with potential service users, ensuring a demand-led approach and projects tailored specifically to the target communities. My Stronger Communities, Active Londoners, and London Together grants are evaluated specifically on their engagement and outreach strategy for attracting new participants within the target demographics.
A list of the projects working with disabled Londoners under my Sport Unites programme is attached.

Redevelopment of the former Woodlands and Masters House

Caroline Pidgeon: I have been contacted by a Lambeth constituent who wishes to know whether you regret the decision to allocate public money to underwrite the unpopular planning application for the redevelopment of the former Woodlands and Masters House, in Kennington, where just 24 out of the 258 units proposed will be “affordable” rent units.

The Mayor: The Mayor’s investment into this scheme was made to support the delivery of 50 per cent affordable housing. A planning application, which is in compliance with this objective, has been submitted by the developer for approval to Lambeth Council.